[.ca] Embracing Heaven & Earth: The Liberation Teachings of ... (ISBN 1883929296)

spiritual wisdom for our time:
andrew cohen is one of Spirit's current crop of evolutionary prophets and teachers. he speaks clearly to the urgent need of modern man and woman to awaken. his way is both easy and hard, simple and complex. he insists we find enlightenment in perfectly letting go and silently abiding between any and all pairs of opposites. he testifies that perfect peace is at hand and requires only the letting go of egocentric desires and befuddlement, and the acceptance of perfect peace and love which already exists within us as our true and deepest selves. your ego may well talk you into putting this book aside because the ideas here will threaten your ego's very existance. this is not just another "feel good" book, its a guide to finding enlightenment in the here and now, a way to finally SEE. a way to finally know what you've really wanted since the day you were born: knowing your true and infinite SELF.

The bedrock of Spiritual Growth:
I highly recommend this book and all of Cohen's books. His five basic tenants of enlightenment which he teaches in this book and in others are the bedrock of spiritual development and maturity. His teachings lay the ground work for the personal Ascension of every human being. Although he does not teach Ascension, he understands that the primary purpose of the human is to attain freedom. The road in which Ascension is achieved.(for further info on Ascension see my "about you"on Amazon.\ocom\c). He is an illumined mind and I also suggest you attend one of his retreats.

Spiritual wisdom and a penetrating scientific inquiry:
With Embracing Heaven & Earth, American spiritual teacher Andrew Cohen offers the reader a "psychology of liberation", blending transcendent spiritual wisdom with a penetrating scientific inquiry into human nature. Highly recommended reading for students of Eastern philosophy and spirituality, the major presentations comprising this informative, thought-provoking compendium include "The Five Fundamental Tenets of Enlightenment"; "Desire: The Perennial Obstacle"; "The Psychology of Liberation"; and the title piece, "Embracing Heaven & Earth".

Pleasant, that is all.:
I expected more from Cohen, but this was just a mildly pleasant read that gave me no great insight. Perhaps I judge it unfairly after being tired-out from spiritual books. They all say the same perennial thing. It is hard now for one to find a truly exciting take on spirituality, unless you are just beginning your journey. I took the cue from my feelings on this book to stop reading and start practicing. But I recommend it to anyone needing more teaching.

Embracing nonduality.:
"Most of us spend our entire lives alienated from our own depths and, as a result, often experience a puzzling sense of separation from the world in which we live" (p. 65), Andrew Cohen observes. As the title of his book suggests, it is our sacred responsibility to integrate both heaven and earth into our lives. Cohen's promises of enlightenment "here and now" through the practice of five simple tenets, namely "clarity of intention" (pp. 5-15), "the law of volitionality" (pp. 17-27), "face everything and avoid nothing" (pp. 29-34), "impersonality" {pp. 35-40), and "for the sake of the whole" (pp. 41-47) are intriguing. His discussion of meditation as a door to "mystery that cannot be imagined and a depth that cannot be measured" (p. 78) is equally compelling. And his insights into the nature of duality are illuminating. But despite its many strengths, for me, this guide to personal growth just did not live up to all the praise it is receiving. G. Merritt